Young HHS swimmers gain experience in Great Falls

The state swim meet in Great Falls is right around the corner for the Havre High swim team and the top swimmers have been taking a quick break to prepare for the big competition in the Electric City.

Meanwhile, the younger swimmers for the Blue Ponies headed to a meet in Great Falls, held in the Great Falls Pool Saturday in hopes of earning a spot on the state roster.

At the end of the day, the Pony girls team placed 10th with 12 points and the HHS boys team finished eighth with 48 points. The meet was a tough one for Havre, but come this week some of those swimmers will be on the state roster.

HHS head coach Bill Kilgore was glad to see his younger swimmers make a big splash at the Great Falls meet.

“This was the perfect meet for our younger swimmers,” Kilgore said. “In fact,

we held out our more experienced swimmers to give them some rest, but also to allow some of the newer swimmers a chance to swim events that they really enjoy.”

There was a lot of exciting moments for the younger squad Saturday. Joey Byrd cut major time off of the boys 100 yard freestyle, Connor McKay has improved as one of the best swimmers in the boys 50 yard freestyle, Brayton Kasper put up a time of 35.67 in the boys 50 yard freestyle, Emme Lines had a 1:13.31 in

the girls 100 yard freestyle and Chase Mariani dropped four seconds in the boys 100 yard freestyle.

But, Kilgore saw an effort from a senior swimmer that both made him proud and emotional due to the effort the young lady put forth in the final moments of one of her swims.

“Carsyn Vogel swam the 100 butterfly for the first time, arguably the hardest event, as a rite of passage for a senior,” Kilgore said. “I was literally in tears watching the effort that young lady put forth in the last 10 yards of the race. Those last 10 yards of total commitment and dedication to oneself and team is what sports is all about.”

Overall, the Great Falls meet Saturday brought about some great results for individual swimmers and showed the dedication of the many young and less-experienced swimmers for Havre. But state is almost here and there will be a lot of hard work put forth to make the most of the upcoming competition. As for who from the younger squad will be added to the state roster, the lineup will be put forth sometime this week, so stay tuned for the state roster.

Overall, the season has been full of ups and downs for the Ponies and with state approaching, Kilgore gave his final thoughts on the team before the head to the Electric City one last time.

“This has been a learning year for both the swimmers and the coaches,” Kilgore said. “I don’t know that we have ever had such a large amount of brand new swimmers, and it has been an interesting year getting to know these kids. We are headed to state with a few experienced kids and a lot of new kids. So, coach Cammon and I are looking more toward our kids getting an experience against high level competition and advancing their knowledge of swimming than we are to finishing high in the final results. These are fantastic kids that have worked hard, showed courage and have represented the Havre community very, very well. Blue Pony Nation should be proud of them.”

Havre has this week off to prepare for the 2020 Montana State Swimming Championships, Feb. 14-15, back in Great Falls.